The present invention relates to a hand-operated stapler for stapling sheets of paper and more particularly pertains to a hand-operated stapler that requires exertion of less effort than a standard typical hand-operated stapler to bind multi-page documents by flat clinching and which is susceptible of a lower cost of manufacture with regard to materials than a standard typical hand-operated flat-clinch stapler.
Staplers are commonly found in offices, schools or other places that process large amounts of paper. There have been different improvements made to increase staplers' efficiency and effectiveness. Various power-operated staplers have been introduced to the market to save effort but they have electrical components and are thus more costly for production and purchase and more susceptible of being broken and irreparable. Hand-operated staplers are less expensive and more durable and are good for operations that do not require frequent stapling or stapling of thick documents. Repeated use of such a hand-operated stapler within a short period of time may easily cause muscle strain or even injury. Various improvements have been made to hand-operated staplers which mainly focus on making them requiring exertion of less effort and producing fewer incidents of squiggled clinches. However, existing hand-operated staplers remains to fall short of users' expectations.
Flat-clinch staplers have been getting popular in offices and schools. Unlike conventional staplers which do not flatten the staples completely, flat-clinch staplers completely flatten the ends of the staples making them fold up tight against the sheets of paper. FIGS. 1 to 3 illustrate a conventional flat-clinch stapler. To use the stapler, the user presses the front part of the pressing cap, thereby driving the metal head 7′ downward. The crank 71′ which connects the metal head 7′ and the blocking member 12′ is then driven to move the blocking member 12′ backward, thereby allowing the lower clincher member 4′ to move upward and eventually bend over the ends of the staple and flatten the ends, making them folding tight against the sheets of paper.
Flat clinching eliminates the crimps and curls of conventional stapling. This reduces the thickness of the paper stapled as the staple is totally flat and this allows neater stacking up of the paper documents with no protruding edges. This also avoids the sharp points or edges that can sometimes snag clothing, scratch other surfaces or even cause finger cuts. Despite the advantages of flat-clinch staplers over the conventional staplers, repeated use of the same may still cause muscle strain or injury. Further, the construction of a flat-clinch stapler is more complicated than a conventional stapler. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3, the major parts for achieving the flat-clinching effect, i.e. the crank 71′ and the blocking member 12′, are made of metal and so flat-clinch staplers are susceptible of a higher manufacturing cost and accordingly a higher price of sale to the consuming public. Therefore, users are looking forward to hand-operated staplers which require exertion of less effort to make flat clinches and which is susceptible of lower prices of sale to the buying public.